March 25-28, 2012 | San Antonio, Texas

The future of video buying

There are many differing ideas as to how video content can be optimized. Consider the opinions of these senior TV and video buyers from top companies like YouTube and Starcom.

Video has never before been such a pervasive part of our lives. We watch on our television sets, our tablets, and our phones, in our cars, at work, and in our homes. In the 1960's, there were less than 10 channels available to viewers. Today, with the advent of on demand media, there are thousands of sites and channels spread across four screens.

"We're at a moment in time when the whole focus on video is so intense, and the agencies are really struggling and working hard to try and figure out organizationally -- within the pre-existing silos -- how to reorganize, focus, and direct more money and more attention to the digital video world," said Jack Meyers, media economist and Chairman of the Media Advisory Group, as he moderated the keynote panel at this week's iMedia Video Summit, in San Antonio, Tex.

"By 2020, only 30 percent of digital video dollars will be going to online originated video content," he said. "Seventy percent will be going to broadcast...so the integration of the traditional television business models with the digital business models are a huge issue."

Indeed, there are a lot dynamics in the industry right now with different companies all looking at the distribution of video revenue model. There are many factors to consider when working with video including type of content (i.e., short vs. long, professional vs. user generated), messaging, and audience segmentation. The one factor that all the expert panelists universally agreed upon is quality.

The bottom line is that "clients are willing to pay for quality," said Jackie Kulesza, SVP and broadcast activation director of Starcom.

The value of video is determined by quality, message, and audience. Do consumers seek out your content? Does your content already come with an audience base? These are all assets that companies must consider.

It's also important to think about the media planning process. When is the right time for digital media planning?

"Most digital media isn't planned until the fourth quarter. You have time to think about digital," said Optimedia's Maureen Bosetti, who serves as EVP and national broadcast director.

However, this is not always the case. Suzie Reider, director of industry development for YouTube, explained how she's helping to plan an event similar to Advertising Week in late April. The idea for the event stemmed from a conversation that she'd had while attending CES -- so, with that time frame, she really had to rush. In just a few short months she's frantically pulled together an event where Hulu, MSN, Yahoo, and Google will showcase their content to clients that are interested in sponsorship opportunities. The reason for this quick turn-around, said Reider, is that she wanted to hold this event before YouTube money had been spent.

The real lesson here is that while careful planning is important, buyers must also be on their toes, ready to jump at good opportunities.

Yet another thing to take into consideration is price.

"There are large buckets of inventory that are not being monetized the way that it should," said Kristian Magel EVP and director of national broadcast at Initiative U.S. "Price has been a barrier to full episode stuff."

Indeed, many companies, such as CW and Fox have sold video at television prices.

Another thing that is important to remember is that "A lot of clients are not as digitally focused. They don't realize that there are other tools in online video that you should use," Magel said.